Origin of the term 'Shmup'

[DazzleHP]

I get asked this many times, and even more so these days with MAME, and companies such as Cave bringing these games into our homes. I've always used the term myself - i've been a fan since i was a kid! But with their popularity rising again recently, the term is getting used more often.

So what is it? Well it's a shortened term for "Shoot 'Em Up" which in turn is used to describe games whereby the player has to try and survive against many enemies using some form of gun type weapon(s) and the first game credited to this genre is Space Invaders (although arguably it could be Spacewar!)

So who is responsible for the term?

It's an ongoing debate but the earliest known record is in Issue 3 of Zzap!64 magazine in 1985.

From the Editorial:

"Some things which you may think are slurred comments, but are in fact quite deliberate are a few strange new words scattered round the mag, like 'shmup', 'aardvark' and 'wimp out'. You'll find a full explanation for all these on the last page of the mag, so don't panic."

These days "shmup" is used mainly to describle vertical or horizontally scrolling shoot 'em ups, but it is generally accepted that any game that has the player shoot his way through many enemies can be included in the genre.

Sources:

http://www.zzap64.co.uk/zzaped85.html

http://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/LukeMcMillan/20130206/186184/The_Origin_of_The_Shmup_Genre_A_Historical_Study.php

[Adultery]

Thanks for the history lesson, Professor Dazzle! I dig learning the origin of slang.

[Tempest]

Ok, what are 'aardvark' and 'wimp out'?

[Adultery]

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=aardvark&defid=418556

http://onlineslangdictionary.com/meaning-definition-of/wimp-out

[Tempest]

So wimp out is just what I thought. Did you read #2 for aardvark?

[Adultery]

I did, and I had a really good laugh. Reminded me of this one.

[DazzleHP]

So wimp out is just what I thought. Did you read #2 for aardvark?

Hahaha classic. Teh Urban Dic is one of the best sites on interwebs

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=aardvark&defid=418556

http://onlineslangdictionary.com/meaning-definition-of/wimp-out